Corporate
Radio ClashSolution = Internet Radio

Today’s music radio is dead. Companies like Clear Channel
have made it very hard for any creative music to reach the airwaves.
Clear Channel owns about 1200 radio stations in the United States.
They have turned a dj art into a pre-formatted empire that has killed
the use of live djs, and replaced them with non-local recorded voices.
Clear channel reaches about forty percent of all radio listeners
in San Diego. With this large percentage of monopoly power it makes
it very hard for independent, and local artists to reach the masses.
Radio comes in “clear” only when locally placed broadcast
towers are near and powerful. Since the invention of streaming media
on the internet, indie artists now have a place to reach music lovers
and consumers clearly.

The amount of internet radio stations is over-whelming, but one
can very easily find one that suits his or her musical tastes. A
couple clicks of the mouse can turn your room or office into an
artist’s shrine. Local and independent stations can be found
not only for artists where you are, but worldwide local stations.
These stations are called webcasts, and can be enjoyed anywhere
an internet connection is made. Today internet is in almost every
home and office so webcasts are great for almost everyone. The quality,
or bitrate, of the live stream depends on the connection type a
listener has. Basically, the faster the internet connection you
have, the higher quality webcast you can listen to. Some streams
have better than cd quality streams, and some simply sound lousy.
Webcasts are specifically made for modem users or worse though,
and do work well in most cases. The amount of internet users is
still on a huge incline, and I expect the amount of internet radio
stations and users to both increase also, as long as broadcast laws
stay constant.

The morality of the corporate radio stations has everything to
do with the poor music in the airwaves. These greedy guys do not
care if good music is broadcasted; they care about revenue. The
revenue they get depends advertising, and corporate record labels
dragging in the masses with garbage profit maximizing crap they
call music. These station owners and record companies invest so
much money in distribution, videos and marketing that they have
no room to take chances on creative music. They want a return on
their investments. This doesn’t allow any room for indie and
local talent to shine. Let these greedy pigs have their money, but
as long as I can find good music through webcasts, I will be happy.